Pumpkin – Page 5 – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with love and laughter amongst family and friends and of course some delicious food! My Thanksgiving was good and while there was plenty of scrumptious food to be had there was also plenty of yummy desserts… Including this Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie.

To begin, I made the brownie batter portion of the pie by melting a stick of unsalted butter and a 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips along with light brown sugar over medium heat in a saucepan. Once the butter and chocolate were melted I removed the saucepan from the heat and whisked in two eggs and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl I whisked together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and then added this flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisked it until the both were combined and smooth.

Following that I transferred the brownie batter into a measuring cup to ensure that I would pour the right amount – a third of the batter – into the prepared pie plate.

While the brownie was baking in the oven I made the pumpkin filling by whisking together pumpkin puree, heavy cream, an egg, granulated sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl until it was smooth.

By the time I was done with the pumpkin filling the brownie was ready to come out of the oven.

I immediately poured the pumpkin filling over the brownie. I stirred a tablespoon of water to the remaining brownie batter and then spooned the batter onto the pumpkin filling. Using the back of the spoon I then pulled the batter into the filling.

After baking for about 40 minutes in a 350 F preheated oven the Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie was ready to come out. Unfortunately it did end up cracking a bit but luckily it didn’t affect the flavor one bit!

Pumpkin and chocolate is definitely a winning combination! The sweetness of the brownie is such a nice complement to the mellow taste of pumpkin spiced with pumpkin pie spice (a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & allspice.) I took half of this pie to a friend’s house for dessert and one of the guests commented that I needed to go home and get the other half. You can’t beat a complement like that!

Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie

Ingredients:

For the Brownie Filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the pie plate

1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Pumpkin Filling:

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter the bottom and side of a 9 1/2 – inch deep-dish pie plate. Make the brownie filling; Heat the butter, chocolate chips and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the butter and chocolate are melted. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until combined.

2. Pour about one-third of the brownie batter into the prepared pie plate; set aside the remaining batter. Bake until just starting to set and the top is shiny, about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, make the pumpkin filling: Combine the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, egg, granulated sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl; whisk until smooth.

4. Pour the pumpkin filling over the warm brownie layer. Stir 1 tablespoon water into the remaining brownie batter, then spoon the batter (in about 6 scoops) onto the pumpkin filling. Use the back of the spoon to pull the brownie batter into the pumpkin filling and create a swirled pattern. Bake until the pie is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hope you are all not tired of my pumpkin recipe posts because I have one more for you today. I kicked off Fall by making Pumpkin Doughnuts and Pumpkin Rice Pudding and just last week I posted about my experience making Homemade Pumpkin Puree – and some of the subsequent treats I made from it – and today I am bringing you Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies. To be honest these cookies weren’t entirely for me. I have a dear friend who is just as much of a pumpkin fan as I am – I told her about Chobani’s Pumpkin Spice Yogurt and she told me about Pumpkin Spice English Muffins (which I am yet to find) and Pumpkin Spice Oreo’s (not worth trying according to her) – so for her birthday I decided to bake up a pumpkin treat to send her. (I sent her Pumpkin Doughnuts last year so I wanted to go with something new this year.) Unfortunately my pictures for the cookies aren’t the best as rainy cloudy days don’t lend for great picture taking!

I began making the dough for the cookies by whisking together the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl: flour, quick oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

In a larger bowl I creamed together softened butter with light-brown sugar and granulated sugar. I was concerned that these cookies would be super sweet since the total amount of sugar was 2 cups, but thankfully the sweetness was toned down due to the addition of the pumpkin puree which doesn’t have much sweetness to it.

Next, I whipped in an egg, vanilla extract and the pumpkin puree to the butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.

With the mixer on the lowest setting, I gradually added the flour mixture to the butter mixture until both were combined. I then folded in chocolate chips with a spatula.

After letting the dough rest for 10 minutes – which allows the oats to absorb the liquids from the dough so the cookies won’t spread out as much while baking – I then used a cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and placed the cookies in a 350 F preheated oven for 12 minutes.

I let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

In total I ended up with a little over 4 dozen cookies. Which was perfect since it meant I could keep some for myself! These cookies are all-around delish! You get a slight taste of pumpkin and the flavors of cinnamon really shine through which is a nice complement to the chocolate chips. And if you like your cookies super-soft then these are for you… They are borderline soft/cakey.

Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 4 Dozen

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree

1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 30 seconds, set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy (occasionally stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl throughout entire mixing process.) Blend in egg then blend in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Let batter rest 5-10 minutes (this just gives the oats some time to absorb the liquids so batter isn’t so sticky and cookies don’t spread so much.)

3. Scoop dough of 2 tbsp. at a time and drop onto Silpat or parchment paper lines baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 12-14 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

While at the supermarket a few weeks ago I came across sugar pumpkins on sale, I thought for a second or two of buying them and making my own pumpkin puree but it was just a fleeting thought at the moment and I stuck with the list of items I had in hand. Once I got home though I was curious as to how difficult it would be to turn those small pumpkins into puree and I was pleasantly surprised at how simple it would be, well, minus the elbow grease and patience. So, a few days later I picked up two pumpkins and got to work.

I began by slicing the top of the pumpkin off. I should say I sawed it off as I did mention it required some elbow grease.

Next, I sliced the pumpkin in half. This was by far the most difficult part. Since my knives were sharpened I probably just need some refresher tips on knife skills.

And then scooped out all of the seeds and pulp.

Following that I sliced the halves into halves – or simply put I cut the pumpkin into quarters. I then repeated these steps with the second pumpkin and placed all of the quarters on a baking sheet.

I roasted the pumpkin in a 350 F preheated oven for just shy of an hour until the pieces were fork tender. And I must say the smell of pumpkin in my house was heaven during that hour.

After letting the pieces cool for a few minutes I was easily able to remove the skin from the pumpkin.

And then it was time for the simplest part – well besides roasting the pumpkin – to making the puree, the blending. I put a few pieces at a time in the bowl of my food processor and added a few tablespoons of water to help the process along.

All in all I ended up with about 8 cups of fresh pumpkin puree.

I refrigerated half of it and froze the other half in sandwich bags – putting a cup of puree in each of the bags.

And since I didn’t want that refrigerated puree to go bad I was quick to whip up some delicious treats with it.

There was pumpkin pie, which I must say definitely had a much richer taste with the fresh puree.

Pumpkin Ravioli using wonton wrappers…

And my favorite, a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte. I usually get one or two of these during the Fall at Starbucks but the coffee flavor is such a turn off for me since I am not a coffee drinker that being able to make this at home and control the coffee amount was perfect!

Pumpkin Ravioli – Adapted from here and here

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh (or canned) pumpkin puree

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 shallot minced

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1/3 cup parmesan cheese grated

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté for 1 minute.

2. Add the pumpkin and cook until the pumpkin has absorbed the butter.

3. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the cream.

4. Remove from the heat and add in the cheese and nutmeg and stir until both are incorporated.

Pumpkin Spice Latte – Recipe from October 2014 Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

heaping 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

heaping 1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 1/4 cup milk (I used whole milk)

1/4 cup espresso (or strong brewed coffee)

whipped cream, for topping

Directions:

1. Combine the sugar, pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a small saucepan.

2. Whisk in milk and espresso and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

3. Pour into 2 mugs and top with whipped cream and more nutmeg.

If you would like a more detailed description of how to make you own pumpkin puree check-out the directions I followed here from the Pioneer Woman’s (Ree Drummond) website.

Fall Equinox = Pumpkin Treats

My favorite season has arrived…Fall! There are many reasons why I love this time of the year. There’s the foliage, the apple picking, the concord grapes, all the different types of squashes available at the supermarket, the great hair days (the crisp cool air of the Fall is perfect for curly hair), the return of scarves (they are my third favorite accessory behind shoes and handbags) and one of my favorite flavors – Pumpkin – becomes available in just about anything and everything! So, I decided to welcome Fall this year with two pumpkin treats – a new recipe, Pumpkin Rice Pudding and an oldie (but goodie) from last year, Pumpkin Doughnuts.

I don’t think I know anyone who likes rice pudding as much as I do, or for that matter I am not sure I know anyone who likes it period. I guess it’s like bread pudding, you either like it or you don’t. I actually did try my hand at a Pumpkin Bread Pudding a few years ago but wasn’t all that thrilled with the minimal pumpkin flavor it had. Maybe I’ll have to revisit that recipe one day soon, but, back to the rice pudding. I came across this recipe while flipping through the circulars of my Sunday newspaper. The recipe was specific for Minute Rice, but, since I didn’t have any and honestly didn’t want to buy any I decided to revamp the recipe using Arborio rice which I already had on hand from make rice pudding not too long ago.

I began by cooking the rice until it was al dente, about 15 minutes.

In another saucepan I combined evaporated milk, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract and brought it to a simmer.

I then added the rice to pumpkin mixture and cooked it over low heat until the mixture started to thicken. I then transferred the rice pudding to a large bowl and cooled it to room temperature before refrigerating it.

Since I had about 2 cups of pumpkin left I decided to whip up a batch of pumpkin doughnuts so it wouldn’t go to waste. Hopefully I won’t suffer from pumpkin over-load too early in the season!

So, what’s the most out-of-the-box pumpkin flavor item you have seen on your store shelves?

Pumpkin Arborio Rice Pudding (Adapted from here and here)

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Arborio rice

1 12oz. can evaporated milk

1 cup pure pumpkin

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Bring water and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Add the rice, return to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Stir the rice occasionally and cook until the rice has absorbed the water but is still al dente, about 15 minutes.

2. In another saucepan, bring the evaporated milk, pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract to a simmer. Add the cooked rice and cook at a simmer over medium-low heat until the rice absorbs most of the milk mixture and it starts to get thick and silky, about 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Transfer the pudding to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator until cool and set.

Pumpkin Doughnuts

Makes 12

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil, plus more for the pans

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly oil two 6-compartment doughnut pans (or use 1 pan and bake in batches). Whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (do not overmix).

3. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each compartment of the prepared pans. Bake until the doughnuts are golden brown and spring back lightly when touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

So I ate the last of my Thanksgiving leftovers yesterday and they were definitely good while they lasted. Ironically cooking a turkey on Thanksgiving has never intimidated me like cooking on an everyday basis used to. Go figure! I would like to say that I turned those turkey leftovers into something creative, but, that just never happened (although I did have a thought or two about it.)

Along with my turkey (which I must say came out really juicy and tasty thanks to brining and an herbed butter rub)…

I also made a Sweet Potato Casserole (it was the first time I ever made one and it will definitely become a staple of mine), Williams-Sonoma’s Focaccia Stuffing and Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Onions…

And in my opinion Thanksgiving is just not complete without some Cranberry Sauce.

For dessert I decided to make a Pumpkin Pecan Pie. I usually just make a plain old Pumpkin Pie but after seeing a recipe that included pecans I was intrigued to try it. In all honesty I didn’t particularly care for that recipe so originally I decided to add pecans to the usual recipe I follow for Pumpkin Pie, but, I decided this year to try out Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe. They are known for their packed pumpkin in cans so I figured they should know a thing or two about turning that into a delicious pie.

To start I toasted about 1/2 cup of chopped pecans on a lightly greased baking sheet in a 350 degrees preheated oven for five minutes. After they cooled I scattered them on the bottom of a deep-dish pie shell. I took a major short-cut and opted to buy a frozen pie crust.

Next, I made the pumpkin filling by beating 2 large eggs in a bowl and then adding in the pumpkin and a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves. And then I gradually stirred in a can of evaporated milk.

And finally I poured that into the pecan covered pie crust and baked it for fifteen minutes in a 425 degrees preheated oven and then dropped the temperature to 350 degrees and baked it for another forty-five minutes.

I loved the texture the pecans added to the pie as well as the nutty flavor.

And while many were out scoring Black Friday deals I opted to stay in and work on some Christmas crafts… Stay tuned!

Pumpkin Doughtnuts

I recently purchased a Wilton Doughnut Pan and had every intention of making cinnamon doughnuts to try it out but then some other recipes got in the way of that and I kept putting the doughnuts on the back-burner. But then last week I made Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce (which was super simple and quite delicious) and I had leftover canned pumpkin and it was only a day or two before that I had come across a recipe for Pumpkin Doughnuts in the recent issue (October 2013) of Real Simple magazine… It was pretty much kismet. I scratched the cinnamon doughnuts and opted for the pumpkin doughnuts instead.

The pan and the leftover canned pumpkin…

To begin I whisked all of my dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and ground cloves. (The recipe actually called for pumpkin pie spice which I didn’t have on hand, hence me using cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and ground cloves.)

In another bowl I whisked together pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, egg and vanilla extract.

Next up I mixed the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture.

Then it was time to scoop it into my prepared doughnut pan.

Per the directions I scooped a 1/4 of a cup of the batter into each doughnut crevice.

I then baked them in a 350 degree preheated oven for 13 minutes.

After letting them cool in the pan for 15 minutes I prepped my second batch of doughnuts to be baked. I ran a little short on batter so as you can see one of the crevices was barely filled.

That small doughnut ended up being my tester and I was quite pleased with how they came out. I let the remaining 11 doughnuts cool properly before trying another one.

The doughnuts were a hit among my friends and I already received requests to make them again!

Pumpkin Doughnuts*

Makes 12

Ingredients

1/2 cup canola oil, plus more for the pans

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly oil two 6-compartment doughnut pans* (or use 1 pan and bake in batches). Whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (do not overmix).

3. Spoon ¼ cup batter into each compartment of the prepared pans. Bake until the doughnuts are golden brown and spring back lightly when touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

*The original recipe included a Sour Cream Icing which I opted not to put on the doughnuts.

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